Andrew Roane Dick (born Andrew Thomlinson, December 21, 1965) is an American actor and comedian. Dick was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and joined The Second City and studied improvisational theater. Dick has had a long career as a stand-up comedian; he has appeared throughout the United States, has released several comedy albums, and has acted in television and film. Dick's first regular television role was on The Ben Stiller Show on Fox. In the mid-1990s, he regularly appeared on NBC's NewsRadio and as a supporting character on Less than Perfect. He also had two short-lived television series on MTV; these were the sketch comedy series The Andy Dick Show (2001) and the reality series The Assistant (2004). He also is noted for his behavior on a number of Comedy Central Roasts, stand-up comedy performances, and late night talk show appearances.
Dick is also known for his eccentric behavior, problems with drug addiction, allegations of sexual misconduct, and arrests. Dick has said he has tried to deal with his drug and alcohol-use disorders for years and by 2025, he said he had undergone drug rehabilitation programs 37 times. In 2022, after a conviction for a 2018 offense, Dick was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Andy Dick was born on December 21, 1965, in Charleston, South Carolina, as Andrew Thomlinson. He was adopted at birth by Allen and Sue Dick, and was named Andrew Roane Dick. He was brought up as a Presbyterian. His father was in the Navy.
As a child, Dick lived with his family in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and Yugoslavia before moving to Chicago in 1979. He attended George Walton Comprehensive High School in Cobb County, Georgia. Dick appeared in numerous theater productions during his high-school years, and was elected homecoming king of his senior year in 1983. He graduated from Joliet West High School in Joliet, Illinois, in 1984.
While in high school, Dick used his surname as a joke; one day, he dressed in a homemade superhero costume and presented himself at school as "Super Dick". Dick has been a friend of actor Anthony Rapp since childhood.
After high school, Dick joined Chicago-based theater group The Second City and attended Illinois Wesleyan University for a semester before attending Columbia College Chicago, where he spent most of his university career, and took improvisational theater (improv) comedy classes at iO Theater.
Andy Dick started his television comedy career as a cast member on the sketch comedy program The Ben Stiller Show, which aired on the Fox Network from September 1992 to August 1995. In 1993, on the third night of David Letterman's new CBS show, Dick appeared as "Donnie the CBS Page Who Likes to Suck Up", during which he gave Letterman a watch. Letterman then handed Dick a pencil, prompting Dick to cry and walk backstage.
In 1994, Dick played a stylist named Pepé in The Nanny episode "Maggie the Model". He also starred as Zachary Smart, the son of Maxwell Smart and Agent 99, in Get Smart (1995), a role he tried to escape to work on NewsRadio. In 2001, Dick starred with Kieran Culkin on the short-lived NBC television series Go Fish.
Dick has regularly appeared on several sitcoms, including NewsRadio on NBC (1995–1999), portraying reporter Matthew Brock, and on the ABC sitcom Less than Perfect as Owen Kronsky.
In 2001, Dick, along with colleagues and producers, developed The Andy Dick Show for MTV that ended in 2003 after three seasons. In 2004, Dick starred in the MTV satirical reality television show The Assistant, which parodies themes and scenes from The Apprentice, The Bachelor, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and Survivor.
Dick had also had a guest appearance on Star Trek: Voyager as the Emergency Medical Hologram Mark II in "Message in a Bottle". He competed in the eighth season of Celebrity Poker Showdown, in which finished in last place behind Robin Tunney, Christopher Meloni, Macy Gray, and Joy Behar.
In 2008, Dick appeared on episode No. 3 of The Real World: Hollywood to tell cast members they would be taking improv classes.
Dick was a contestant on Season 16 of Dancing with the Stars in 2013. He was partnered with former troupe member Sharna Burgess and was placed seventh in the competition. Dick appeared on ABC's Celebrity Wife Swap on July 14, 2013.
One of Andy Dick's earliest film roles was a fictional version of himself in the film adaptation of video game Double Dragon. In 1993, Dick played himself in the mockumentary The Making of... And God Spoke. He also starred alongside comedian Pauly Shore in the 1994 war comedy film In the Army Now. Also in 1994, Dick made a cameo in Ben Stiller's directorial debut, Reality Bites.
In 1997, Dick had a supporting role alongside Luke Wilson and Jack Black in Bongwater as Wilson's gay friend who gives him a place to stay after his house is destroyed by fire. In 1999, Dick played one of Dr. Claw's henchmen in Inspector Gadget.
In 2000, Dick made a cameo appearance in Dude, Where's My Car?. The same year, he appeared as a motel clerk in the teenage comedy Road Trip. In 2001, Dick made a cameo as Olga the Masseuse in Ben Stiller's comedy Zoolander.
In 2002, Dick appeared as a taxi cab driver in the band Ash's music video "Envy". In 2003, he appeared in Will Ferrell's Old School as Barry the oral sex instructor and as a villainous Santa in The Hebrew Hammer. In 2005, Dick was featured in the documentary The Aristocrats. In 2006, he appeared in Employee of the Month as Lon, a nearsighted optician. He also provided the voice of Mambo in Happily N'Ever After (2007) and the voice of Boingo in Hoodwinked! (2005).
Dick's feature-film-directing debut was the 2006 film Danny Roane: First Time Director. In late December 2008, Dick announced on his official website he had finished writing a script for a film titled Daphne Aguilera: Get into It, starring his alter-ego Daphne Aguilera.